I pull aside her neckline, kissing along her shoulder. She sighs and shifts her body over mine, her hair tickling my face.
The position heightens everything, including my surprise, and that sense of unease grows to a roar in my ears even as my body urges me on.
But just as I’m about to pull away, to stop the spiral, she goes still, her palms on my shoulders. She makes a sound in the back of her throat, a kind of surprised breath, and the air turns from a lustful buzz to a frigid tundra in three seconds. She looks down at me, but she’s not seeing me. Her eyes are glazed over, liquid white blue like the summer sky.
A shiver runs over my skin. “Kara?”
She stares through me.
Something moves, but it’s not me and it’s not her. It’s something more. Her energy, her soul, it cracks open, a blossom of secrets baring itself, sliding over her chest and shoulders, down her arms like water made of blue light, hypnotic and lovely. It spreads out between us, stronger than I’ve ever felt it.
Then it spills onto my chest.
A surge of emotions—pain, sorrow, hope—jars my senses when her energy touches me. Breathing is impossible. There’s nothing inside of me but her. And I know everything. Her past horror, her weakness, her hurt, her hunger for escape. Everything. It’s now my own.
Her eyes close and she sinks down to rest her head on my chest, pressing her body against mine again. She lies there, silent, and I’m still with shock until she whispers, “Something is changing inside of me, Aidan, and I don’t want it to stop. I’m not afraid anymore. Of us, of this.” Her fingers slide under my shirt and roam over my belly. The air’s gone back to a form of normal. Her heartbeat is comfortable and steady. “I can’t let anything take that away from me.”
I stare wide-eyed at the ceiling, trying to catch my breath. Does she realize that a piece of her—her spirit or her soul, maybe both—went into me? I can still feel the blue energy spreading through my body, like it’s in my veins now.
And it’s making my chest hurt like hell.
“I want you to come to me tonight,” she says, sounding tired. “I want to be with you. For real this time.”
“You need to rest,” I manage to say. My voice sounds far away, like it’s not really mine. “We still don’t know if you’re okay.”
“I feel better now.” There’s a quiet satisfaction in her voice, like she’s perfectly relaxed. “All I needed was a kiss from you, a real kiss. It’s like magic.”
The block on the house has never been able to keep our connection hidden. From the beginning, our link’s been too strong. But whatever just happened was far beyond anything else I’ve ever experienced. Like the subtle web that ties our souls together just became iron cables.
“You still need to rest,” I say. And I need to make sure things aren’t falling apart again.
“But I want you to be mine,” she whispers. “All of you.”
“I am,” I say. I lean closer and kiss her forehead, my muscles protesting the movement as if I’ve run a hundred miles. I shift out from under her and settle her comfortably into her sheets again. “Always.”
She snuggles into her pillow, breathing out in contentment, half-asleep already. “Always.”
I move off the bed and go to the mirror above her dresser, taking off my shirt and looking at my reflection. My normally bronzed skin is a little dull and there are dark circles under my eyes. But that’s how I’ve looked for several weeks now.
My gaze locks on my chest where a blue glow still pulses over my seal of Awakening.
My heart beats faster as I watch the glow sink in, melting into the burnt circular pattern I still don’t understand.
I look back at Kara, her quiet form so peaceful now. I can still feel the weight of her pain, but now it’s in my own skin. Her heavy energy settles into my body, as if she just transferred all her troubles to me.
I walk over to the window and look out to the perfectly blue California sky. I pull the Star of David from my pocket and grip it tightly in my fist, finding myself praying—pleading, really. Please, let us be all right, please keep us safe, protect us, protect all of us. Over and over. Because I can’t, I just can’t lose anyone else.
SIX
Rebecca
I sit on my bed and stare down at the cell phone in my lap, willing it to ring or ding with a new text from Aidan. But it just looks back at me, a black screen, silent. Why didn’t he let me know he wasn’t going to be at the coffee shop yesterday? Why didn’t he show? It doesn’t make any sense; it isn’t like him not to at least call.
I need to see him. Okay, I always feel like I need to see him, but this time I really need to. Especially after that thing I drew last night . . . the cave with the skulls. All those skulls. And Aidan standing alone in the middle of it all. After I finished the drawing, I got a horrible feeling, looking at it. Something is really wrong. And I know he’s the only one who’ll be able to make sense of the image.
Dad thinks I’m PMSing because he saw me moping around yesterday when I got home from the non-coffee. I know it wasn’t a date or anything, but it felt like I’d just been dumped. And I’m so pathetic that I actually called Samantha to complain about it. She promptly christened Aidan a dillweed and offered to fix me up with another one of her brother’s friends—the last one she threw at me had a crazy obsession with feet and actually caressed my ankle at the end of the date. Um, no thanks.
I run my finger over the bumpy line on the inside of my arm. The scar is still bright pink and stings every now and then from the skin trying to twist back into place.
People think that I did this to myself, that I was trying to get attention, because of my brother, Charlie. They think I tried to kill myself because I was lonely. And sad. Which I was, but . . . I didn’t slit my wrist.
There’s a knock on my bedroom door. “Emery, are you going to be ready soon?”
“Come in,” I say, shoving my silent phone in my bag with my clothes, like it’s offended me. Because it has.
My dad opens the door a crack and peeks in, cautiously. We’ve spent a lot of time together lately, but he’s still worried I’m on the edge. “You finished packing already?” Do I want to admit that I finished packing yesterday morning, ten minutes after he told me I was going to Samantha’s? Because that’s the same time I decided I was actually going to Aidan’s.
Now I’m second-guessing that decision. “Maybe I should just stay home, Dad.”
His wide brow scrunches up. “Alone?” He opens the door the rest of the way. “I don’t like that plan. I called and worked things out specifically so you wouldn’t have to be home by yourself again.”
“I know, I’m just feeling unsure about staying with Samantha.”
Dad leans on the doorjamb and folds his arms over his chest. He’s dressed in a nice grey V-neck sweater and slacks. He just had his hair color touched up so the silver is a little less noticeable at the temples, the brown more solid and rich. He’s a straightlaced guy, all business usually. Nothing like Charlie was, nothing like me. At least, I hope I’m not like him. Not that I don’t love him, but he shuts himself off. He’s left me feeling alone even when we’re both in the same room. I never want to do that to anyone I care about.
“I thought you wanted to stay with her,” he says. “You always have so much fun together. And she knows what you’ve been through. I may have to be in New York for a few weeks. I’m not comfortable with you staying here alone for that long.”
“You never cared before,” I mumble, then feel guilt spike my throat.
He takes a breath in and releases it. “I was wrong to leave you before. I told you that. I’m sorry, sweetie, really. If that Aidan boy hadn’t been with you the day it happened—” His words cut off.
I’m sure he wouldn’t talk about Aidan so nicely if he knew the real story. My dad trusts the LA Paranormal crew, in a way, because he doesn’t know that I stayed at the house with them that whole week he was gone. He certainly doesn’t know that a poss
essed boy who lived there sliced my wrist open. Or that it was apparently Aidan’s fault. If my dad knew all of that, there’s no way I’d be seeing Aidan again. Ever.
So, I lied. I said that I was wandering the streets after a party that night and Sid found me, took me in. He let me sleep there at the house, and the next morning—even though the people there had tried to talk to me and help me—I decided I couldn’t live anymore.
I had to lie. I couldn’t exactly tell him there’s this whole hidden world parallel to our own, where demons roam, or that one of those demons was chasing after me. Then he’d definitely put down a deposit on a padded room.
And now I’m going to lie again. I’m going to pretend that I’m staying with Samantha and her parents, but then I’m going to take a cab to Aidan’s place. Samantha’s busy with summer dance competitions, and her mom is a medicated harpy. Not to mention her stepfather.
I shiver, thinking about the last time I was in touching distance of that pervert.
For now, I only have the summer program at the arts academy to keep me busy while dad is gone. At least if I’m at the LA Paranormal house, I won’t be bored. I can be close to Aidan and learn more about his world. And I won’t have to fend off step-pervs.
“It’s okay, Dad,” I say, rising from the bed and walking over to him.
We haven’t been apart since the “incident,” and I’m actually going to miss our quiet breakfasts and evenings watching What Not To Wear together while he’s gone. He’s learned a lot about matching versus coordinating, if I do say so myself.
I plant a kiss on his nose and wrap my arms around his neck, resting my head on his chest. I wish we could just be poor so he’d never have to go anywhere. Then maybe I wouldn’t lie. Maybe we’d be a family again, like when Charlie was here. “I’m taking my anxiety medication and I’ll be fine. I’ll stay with Samantha, and I’ll try to be cheery. You don’t have to worry.”
He kisses the top of my head and hugs me tighter. “I’ll come back as soon as the merger’s solid. I swear. I won’t be gone a second longer than I have to be.”
“I know.”
SEVEN
Aidan
My arms are empty when I open my eyes. I spent the night lying next to Kara, worried about what might happen next. But it appears we made it through without incident.
The sun is low in the morning sky, painting the horizon orange and pink. Kara is up, looking through her closet, tossing socks and shoes and shirts behind her. A blue Doc Marten lands on the foot of the bed.
“Where the hell did I put that damn thing?” she mumbles, rising up on her toes and pulling a box off a higher shelf. She shuffles around inside it before dropping it and grabbing a second one.
I rub the sleep from my eyes and yawn. “What’re you looking for?”
“Nothing. I don’t know.”
“Oh . . . kay.” I sit up and study the closet vomit. “That’s a lot of crazy for nothing.” Obviously she’s more energetic than she was yesterday.
“I know. It’s just dumb.”
I stand and step over the piles of clothes to get to her. “How’re you feeling? Better?”
She smiles, still looking through the shoebox in her arms. “No bloody eyes this morning, so that’s a bonus.”
I wonder if she realizes something weird happened yesterday, more than the blood. It appears she’s still oblivious. I have no idea what happened either, so I’m not sure how to bring it up.
“Good,” I say, peeking over her shoulder. The box is full of photographs and papers. “Seriously, what are you looking for?”
She snatches up a folded piece of paper and lifts it above her head like she’s found gold. “Ah-ha! Bazinga!”
“Oh goodie, a paper.”
“It’s my earthquake keeper.”
“Your what?”
“Since forever, whenever there’s been an earthquake, I’ve written down the date and time and stuff. Then I carry the list around with me the rest of the day for good luck.” She holds out the paper, and I see a list of dates and some details like epicenter or the day’s weather, each line written in different ink. “I told you: lame,” she says.
What an odd thing to be looking for. “Are you expecting an earthquake in the near future or something?”
“Ha!” She points in my face, like she caught me being slow. “You didn’t feel it? Happened like an hour ago.”
“An earthquake?” Strange I didn’t feel it. Not the first time I’ve slept through one, though.
“Yeah. I wonder why they always seem to happen early in the morning. Weird, huh?”
“Is this a hobby of yours? Chasing quakes?”
“I’m a California Girl. I just think it’s interesting. Plus, it’d be nice to know when we’re about to break off into an island.”
I laugh, surprised by this goofy side of her. “You’re so cute.”
“Laugh it up, prophet boy who can’t even feel an earthquake.” She crinkles her nose. “And I’m not cute.”
I lean close and kiss her furrowed brow. “If you say so.”
“How did Kara’s visit with the doctor go?” Sid asks me as he comes in the back door from his shed after lunch. I’m sitting at the kitchen table with Jax, reading the text I’ve written to Rebecca, not sure I should press “Send.” I need to apologize for being a no-show yesterday. I have no idea what she’s thinking because she never called or texted to ask where I was.
It shouldn’t matter, but it does. It tastes like sawdust in my mouth when I think about hurting her.
“Kara’s okay, I think,” I say. The doctor came and went pretty quickly. “No more blood and he said her vitals looked good. She slept fine last night, too. He scheduled her an MRI at his clinic in a couple weeks, just in case.” I need to tell Sid about the blue energy that came from her and seemed to go inside me, but that definitely isn’t going to happen with Jax in the room.
“Oh, she slept good, huh?” Jax wiggles his brow up and down. “You get her nice and tuckered out?”
I roll my eyes and stand from the table, slipping my phone in my pocket without sending the message. I head toward the office and motion for Sid to follow me.
Sorry I didn’t come yesterday, the message in my pocket says. I need some time. I hope you understand.
Understand what? That she can’t be a part of my life right now? That no matter how much of a mystical connection Rebecca has with me, it makes things impossible to balance when she’s in my life? She’s too pure and good, and this place I live in right now is steeped in death and pain. People around me get hurt, so protecting her means keeping her far away for now. If seeing Kara bleeding from her eyes doesn’t confirm that, then nothing will.
But I also know that the reason I can’t seem to press “Send” is because none of that matters. I can say she needs to stay away all day long and it won’t change a thing. Rebecca will still be there, standing just at the edge of my sight, a part of my future, like Ava said.
And Ava’s visions were never wrong.
Once Sid and I are in the office I shut the door. “Did you find out if the curse is making Kara sick?”
He shakes his head, looking exhausted. “I still have a lot to read through, though. Maybe I’ll get Connor to take me to Eric’s warehouse later today. Is Kara sleeping?”
“She’s heading out with Connor to check one of their cameras at that old psychiatric hospital. She isn’t in the mood to sit still, and apparently there’s trouble with one of the feeds.”
Sid lights up a little at that. “So she’s feeling better!”
“I’d say she feels more energetic, not less.”
“How strange,” he says, eyes wandering to the floor in thought.
“And there’s something else,” I say, not sure why I’m so hesitant to tell him. “A weird thing happened when . . . well, when she kissed me yesterday.”
A frown creases his brow. “Do you mean after the blood-show? You kissed her—was that wise?”
“Do
you want to know what happened, or not?” When he nods, I continue. “Her energy, her blue light, was really thick and it sort of . . . entered me. I felt it. I felt her.”
“It actually entered your body?” His voice is tight and full of concern. “Has this ever happened before?”
“No, this is a first, as far as I know. Could it be connected to the bleeding? Why would her blue light actually go inside of me? It’s only touched me before.”
Sid shakes his head and studies the floor between us. “I can’t know for sure. Perhaps after I figure out why she’s bleeding, we’ll have an answer. In my experience, the exchange of power only occurs when one half of a powerful whole is attempting to heal another—one mate trying to mend the other with their essence.”
“If that’s what happened, then it should’ve been my power entering her, not the other way around.” She was the one who was sick.
“I can only think it’s linked to the blood. I’ll need to keep looking, but this might help in finding an answer.” He sighs and turns away, walking over to the door. Before he opens it he asks, “Have you been reading Eric’s journal? Any new tips on Ava?”
I’m not sure why he’s asking that now. He hasn’t pushed me to talk about my sister for the last two weeks or so.
“I’ve been reading it,” I say, “but no new tips.”
I’ve actually been reading it obsessively ever since Ava left, trying to understand my powers and figure out how to bring her back. The only possible solution I’ve found would be to complete the spell that the Heart-Keeper started when he slid the silver dagger into her chest. I admit, some days I miss her so much that I consider going for it and praying that she’ll awaken fully herself and that the Darkness won’t win. But there’s no way to be sure I’d bring the pure Ava back by completing the spell. And the girl who opens her eyes on that altar needs to be my Ava. Plus, there’s no way that I could actually cut out my sister’s heart.
Darkness Fair (The Dark Cycle Book 2) Page 4